WASHINGTON - The Defense Department today announced replacement units scheduled to deploy next year to Iraq.
About 26,000 troops from an Army corps headquarters, an Army division headquarters, a Marine expeditionary force headquarters, an Army National Guard fires brigade and six Army brigade combat teams are scheduled to rotate into Iraq between this winter and next summer, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The Wyoming Army National Guard's 115th Fires Brigade from Cheyenne is made up of artillery battalions and batteries and will be assigned tasks to ensure freedom of movement and continuity operations throughout the country. This includes route clearance operations, searching for roadside bombs and escort security for supply convoys, Whitman said.
More than 900 Soldiers from Wyoming, Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado will deploy with the Wyoming brigade to Kuwait after pre-deployment training at Fort Hood, Texas in April.
"We have been proactively training to ensure our Soldiers will excel, when they mobilize," said Maj. Gen. Ed Wright, Wyoming's adjutant general. "We leaned forward in the saddle. To do anything less would have been a disservice to our Soldiers, their families and employers."
The order to deploy Soldiers includes the 115th Fires Brigade, 148th Signal Company, 960th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Battalion and 300th Field Artillery.
"There are no dwell-time issues," Whitman said, referring to the amount of time at home these units will have had since their last deployment.
Today's announcement is consistent with President Bush's recent announcements to reduce Iraq troop levels, Whitman added, though a possibility exists for any of the brigade combat teams to be re-tasked for Afghanistan deployments.
Based on future decisions and recommendations from ground and combatant commanders, Iraq troop numbers and security efforts will be adjusted accordingly, he explained.